Canterlot High 2: Rainbow Rocks
Canterlot High 2: Rainbow Rocks is a 2018 American 3D computer-animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the sequel to the 2015 film Canterlot High, making it Disney's 58th feature-length animated film. The film was directed by Rich Moore and Phil Johnston, and executive-produced by John Lasseter, Chris Williams, and Jennifer Lee. Margot Robbie, Selena Gomez, Faith Hill, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jenny Slate, Alicia Fox, Kristin Chenoweth, and Rainn Wilson reprised their roles from the first film, and new additions to the cast that include Sia, Zoe Saldana, and Uzo Aduba. Development on a Canterlot High sequel began in December 2015, following the success of the first film. The new installment went through three different scripts before the filmmakers settled on the final plot. By the fall of 2016, much of the original cast confirmed they had signed on, with new cast members added from 2016 to 2017. Canterlot High 2: Rainbow Rocks premiered at the Grauman's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles on August 11, 2018, and was released in the United States on August 24, 2018 in 2D, 3D, RealD 3D, Dolby Cinema, and IMAX 3D. The film has grossed over $877 million worldwide, and it has received mostly positive reviews from critics, who praised the animation, humor, characters, and plot, as well as the vocal performances of Robbie and Gomez. The film was nominated for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song at the 91st Academy Awards, 76th Golden Globe Awards and 24th Critics' Choice Awards. A third film, Canterlot High 3, is currently in development and is scheduled to be released on February 1, 2022. Plot The film opens at a café in the human world. The numerous café patrons argue among themselves as a strange green mist swirls around their feet. In the corner booth, three girls in hoods sing and absorb the green mist into the red gems on their necklaces. The purple-haired girl Aria Blaze grumbles that she's "tired of fast food" and needs a meal. The orange-haired girl Adagio Dazzle laments that the energy in "this world" isn't the same as that in Equestria. As the blue-haired girl Sonata Dusk joins the conversation and gets into a light argument with Aria, Adagio notices an explosion of light in the distance. She races out of the café and watches the magical rainbow energy burst into the sky, grinning evilly when she realizes what it is. She explains to Aria and Sonata that Equestrian magic has found its way into the human world, and they're going to use it to make everyone adore them. Six moons later, at Canterlot High School, the students are busy making banners in the auditorium for the school's upcoming musical showcase. Sunset Shimmer offers to help the Cutie Mark Crusaders with their banner, but they decline, much to Sunset's disappointment. When Pinkie Pie calls Sunset over to join her and her friends, the other present students glare at and gossip about Sunset, making her uncomfortable. Rarity quickly changes the subject and shows Sunset the banner they made for the showcase (which Pinkie used cake frosting on instead of paste). Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna then enter, and Celestia says how pleased she is by the amount of student participation in the showcase. However, when she mentions the Fall Formal, the students glare at Sunset again and Sunset hides her face in humiliation. Later, in the school band room, Sunset laments how she'll never live her past mistakes down. Her friends, now in a five-part band called the Rainbooms, say they've forgiven her and cheer her up with a rehearsal of Better Than Ever. As they sing, the five bandmates sprout pony ears and wings and longer hair, which disappear when they stop playing. Rarity and Applejack express disbelief at the strange phenomenon, but Rainbow Dash cares little, letting her band leader egotism show. Flash Sentry enters, having heard the band's playing from outside the room, and compliments their sound. When Rainbow criticizes Rarity and Applejack's playing, they give an annoyed look. Flash asks if "any friends from out of town" will be coming to the showcase. The Rainbooms tell him they're not sure if Twilight will be present, and Flash awkwardly excuses himself. Rarity is amused by Flash's behavior, but she stops herself when she remembers that he and Sunset used to date. Sunset admits that she never liked Flash romantically and further regrets her past actions. As Applejack cheers her up, a speaker announcement by Vice Principal Luna summons Sunset Shimmer to the school foyer. Sunset leaves the room, having promised to give a tour to some new students and the Rainbooms go back to rehearsing. Fluttershy asks if they can sing a song she wrote, to which Rainbow Dash replies that they'll get to it later. At the school entrance, Sunset Shimmer meets with the new girls - Adagio, Aria, and Sonata - and shows them around the school. During the tour, they pass by a flyer for Canterlot High's musical showcase; Sunset talks about the event, and the girls are intrigued, with Sonata nearly revealing their true nature. When Sunset notices the three's gem necklaces and reaches for Adagio's, Adagio grabs Sunset's wrist in sudden offense. Adagio catches herself and apologizes, explaining that their pendants mean a lot to them and they don't want anything to happen to them. The three girls walk off, leaving Sunset to ponder their strange behavior. Later in the cafeteria, Sunset joins her friends and mentions that there is something "off" about the new girls, worrying that they know about the events of the Fall Formal. Outside the cafeteria doors, Adagio, Aria, and Sonata have a brief argument before they enter. With their beguiling voices and a rousing song, the girls convince the students of Canterlot High to turn the musical showcase into an all-out Battle of the Bands. As they sing, tensions rise among the students, causing them to argue. As each vows victory in the competition, green mist forms around them, which Adagio, Aria, and Sonata absorb into their pendants. Only Sunset Shimmer and her friends are unaffected by the song. Sunset Shimmer and the Rainbooms suspect that Adagio, Aria, and Sonata are using dark magic on the students and go to alert the principals. However, Celestia and Luna believe the girls, now calling themselves the Dazzlings, are innocent and even praise them for their Battle of the Bands idea. For a brief moment, the principals' eyes glow green, indicating that they have also fallen under the Dazzlings' spell. In Ponyville, at the Castle of Friendship, Twilight and her friends lounge about in the throne room when a stallion arrives with a delivery of books from Princess Celestia. One of the books, with Celestia's cutie mark on the cover, appears to glow and vibrate. Twilight opens it and discovers Sunset's call for help. Twilight determines from Sunset's warning that the Dazzlings are actually Equestrian sirens. Long ago, the sirens used their eerie songs to turn ponies against one another and fed on the negative energy from their hatred and distrust, which made them powerful enough to control minds. But before they could conquer Equestria with their magic, Star Swirl the Bearded banished them to another world—the world where Sunset Shimmer now lives with the human counterparts of Twilight's Ponyville friends. Twilight wishes to go and help her human friends, but the Crystal Mirror's closure prevents her from doing so. Pinkie Pie proposes that the same magic that allows Sunset Shimmer to send messages from the human world to Equestria should allow the portal to be opened. With a bunch of mechanical parts, and using the book as a battery, Twilight is able to energize and reopen the portal. Her friends want to accompany her, but Twilight tells them they can't because it would be confusing to have two copies of her friends in the same place. Spike can still go along, however, and he and Twilight soon charge into the portal. Back at the school, Rainbow starts to lose hope that Twilight will come, when Twilight and Spike suddenly shoot out of the portal. Her human friends meet her in a group hug. Later at Mr. and Mrs. Cake's Sweet Shoppe, the friends all catch up, with Spike revealing Twilight's new status as the Princess of Friendship. Once Twilight learns of what they're up against, she comes up with a plan to ambush the Dazzlings at the pre-Battle of the Bands party being held in the school gym. At the band meetup, Twilight bumps into Flash Sentry and stammers in his presence. Once the Dazzlings arrive, Twilight and her friends declare their evil plans finished and attempt to stop them with a magic of friendship attack. However, nothing happens, allowing the Dazzlings to feed on even more of the competitors' negativity. Having humiliated themselves, Twilight and her friends excuse themselves, but the Dazzlings decide to keep an eye on them, calling them "special". Twilight and the others regroup outside the school and try to figure out what went wrong. They reason that, since they can only channel their magic when playing music, only a counter-spell in the form of a song will break the Dazzlings' spell, making the Battle of the Bands the perfect venue. They also decide Twilight should be the Rainbooms' new lead singer, much to Rainbow Dash's chagrin. Before Twilight retires to the school library like she did during her last visit to Canterlot High, Pinkie Pie proposes a slumber party at her house. That evening, as her friends enjoy themselves around her, Twilight has considerable difficulty writing a counter-spell. Later, after everyone falls asleep, she works on it in the kitchen and is soon joined by Sunset Shimmer. As the two bond over the similar problems they each face, Sunset is startled when Pinkie's sister Maud comes in to get a snack for Boulder. The next day, the Rainbooms practice their musical counter-spell in the barn next to Applejack's house. Unfortunately, Twilight's singing is so off-key that Rainbow Dash only manages a small bit of transformation. Before long, hostility continues to grow between the Rainbooms regarding Rarity's costumes and Rainbow's insisting that the band is hers. With the Battle of the Bands starting soon, the Rainbooms soon agree to perform other songs and stall for time until Twilight can complete her spell. In addition, they decide to keep their magic a secret from the Dazzlings for as long as possible. The Battle of the Bands gets underway, with Snips and Snails performing a hip-hop duet that earns only confused looks from the audience and reprimanding from Principal Celestia when they drop the microphones. When the time comes for the Rainbooms to perform, Rarity takes the stage in a hippie-inspired outfit with metal fringes. During their performance of Shake Your Tail, other competitors try to sabotage them: Photo Finish and the Snapshots manipulate Rarity's movement with a magnet, and Snips and Snails take advantage of Fluttershy's stage fright by holding a spotlight over her. The Rainbooms manage to advance to the next round, but they continue to squabble over petty issues. Later, even Flash Sentry starts to show hostility toward Twilight, considering her to be an enemy because she is on a rivaling band. As they part ways, a heartbroken Twilight walks away in tears. At the other end of the hallway, Sunset confronts the Dazzlings about their evil schemes, but the Dazzlings play to Sunset's fragile emotions and make her feel useless in her friends' eyes. In the following montage set to the Dazzlings' Under Our Spell, competing bands are eliminated one by one, from the Crusaders to Bulk Biceps to Lyra Heartstrings and Sweetie Drops to even Flash Sentry. In the semifinals, the Rainbooms face Trixie and the Illusions to decide who faces the Dazzlings in the final round. As Trixie and her band perform Tricks Up My Sleeve, Twilight still has yet to finish her counter-spell song, so Rainbow Dash takes over as lead singer and the Rainbooms perform Awesome As I Wanna Be. However, Rainbow Dash gets carried away and starts to transform, prompting Sunset Shimmer to leap in and cut the song short. The crowd is convinced that Sunset hasn't changed, adding more fuel to the fire of hatred for the Dazzlings to feed on. Through the Dazzlings' manipulation of the principals, the Rainbooms advance to the final round instead of the Illusions. An embittered Trixie is later approached by Adagio and given the idea of removing the Rainbooms from the competition so the Illusions can take their place in the finals. During the Rainbooms' mic check on the stage where the finals are to take place, Trixie and the Illusions arrive to carry out their plan: a lever opens a trap door on the stage, and the Rainbooms fall inside. Spike, the only one not to become trapped, rushes off to find help. That night, the Illusions perform in the finals following the Rainbooms' supposed forfeit. Afterward, the Dazzlings take the stage for their final performance and continue feeding off the crowd. Below the stage, tempers and tensions finally boil over between the Rainbooms and a five-way argument breaks out, allowing the Dazzlings on stage to feed on their hatred. Sunset notices what's happening and finally intervenes, pointing out that their arguing has warped the magic of friendship into something that the Dazzlings can feed on. Twilight is ashamed that she hadn't realized it sooner, and Sunset tells her no one is supposed to have all the answers, but friends can help you find them. The Rainbooms thus make amends and finally come to a compromise, and Spike arrives to rescue them with the help of DJ Pon-3, whose headphones shielded her from the Dazzlings' spell. The Dazzlings continue feeding on the crowd on stage and transform, giving them pony ears, tails, and translucent wings. As the Rainbooms watch from atop a hill, wondering how their song can reach the crowd, DJ Pon-3 arrives with further assistance: a car that converts into a DJ station. The Rainbooms start to play their counter-spell song over the Dazzlings' song and take on half-pony forms with colors similar to that of the Mane Six's Rainbow Power. Refusing to be stopped, the Dazzlings summon astral versions of their true siren forms and manage to overpower the Rainbooms. As the Rainbooms fall, Twilight's microphone rolls next to Sunset Shimmer's feet, and Twilight says they need her help. Sunset finds new resolve and, upon removing her jacket, starts to sing. Before long, the rest of the Rainbooms join her, and their combined magic creates a rainbow shockwave that weakens the Dazzlings and severs their spell over everyone, much to Adagio's disbelief. The magic of friendship builds inside Sunset, granting her a half-pony form of her own. All the students then join in, and as the Dazzlings look on in shock and horror, the magic coalescing in the sky takes the form of a giant Alicorn that destroys their astral projections as well as their gem pendants. With their power sources destroyed, the Dazzlings are unable to even sing and re-cast their spell. The enraged students boo, jeer, and pelt them with fruits and vegetables, forcing them to flee in shame and disgrace. Flash, now free of the Dazzlings' influence, meets Twilight in a happy and warm embrace. However, Trixie, still upset about her competition loss, makes it clear she isn't done with the Rainbooms yet. As for Sunset, with Twilight now having to return home to Equestria, Rainbow allows Sunset to join the band in Twilight's stead—especially after Sunset reveals she can play the guitar. Before Twilight leaves, she promises to visit whenever she can now that the portal can be opened at any time. Later, as the girls tune up their instruments, Sunset uses her old journal to write the friendship lesson she learned to Princess Twilight. As the film closes, Sunset picks up her guitar and joins her bandmates in a performance of Shine Like Rainbows. During the credits, Sunset is seen having now been accepted by the rest of the school, as the Cutie Mark Crusaders help her with her books and walk with her and Bulk Biceps helps her get Angel down from a hard-to-reach perch. In a post-credits scene, the human world's version of Twilight Sparkle is seen documenting strange events that are all connected to Canterlot High. She confides in her dog Spike that "something strange is going on at that school..." Cast Coming soon! Production Development On December 18, 2015, Walt Disney Animation Studios announced a sequel to 2015's Canterlot High, with director Rich Moore returning. On December 24, 2015, Moore confirmed that the script was being written. On September 20, 2017, Disney officially announced the film's title Canterlot High 2: Rainbow Rocks along with the first teaser poster. Casting On December 31, 2015, it was reported that Margot Robbie was willing to reprise his role as Twilight in the sequel. It was also reported that Selena Gomez might return to reprise her role as Sunset Shimmer but had not decided yet. In January 2016, it had been confirmed that Robbie and Gomez would reprise their respective roles as Twilight and Sunset Shimmer in the sequel. By February 2016, Faith Hill, Jenny Slate, Bryce Dallas Howard, Alicia Fox, Kristin Chenoweth, and Rainn Wilson were confirmed to reprise their roles. In October 2016, it was announced that Zoe Saldana has joined the cast to voice a brand new character in the sequel. The following month, Sia was cast to voice a villain in the film. On August 12, 2017, it was announced that Uzo Aduba joined the cast. Animation The film contains over 140 unique sets and 4723 assets, the most for a film by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Music : Main article: Canterlot High 2: Rainbow Rocks/Soundtrack On February 14, 2017, Henry Jackman was revealed to be returning for the sequel's score. Release On June 30, 2016, Walt Disney Animation Studios initially announced that it would be released on November 21, 2018. However, in April 2017, Ralph Breaks the Internet ''took over its date, and the film was moved up to August 24, 2018. Marketing On November 10, 2017, the teaser trailer was released on YouTube, and was attached to ''Daddy's Home 2, The Star, Coco, Lix, Ferdinand, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Paddington 2,'' The Maze Runner: The Death Cure'','' Peter Rabbit'', Black Panther, and Early Man. The trailer gained 2 million views within 24 hours of its upload. The first official trailer was released on March 8, 2018, in front of A Wrinkle in Time, Sherlock Gnomes, Isle of Dogs, Rampage, Avengers: Infinity War, Computeropolis: The Deep Web, Show Dogs, and Solo: A Star Wars Story. The second trailer was released on June 14, 2018, in front of Incredibles 2, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Uncle Drew, Armada, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, Dick Grayson 2: Tales of a Teenage Boy, Skyscraper, Teen Titans Go! To the Movies, Dog Man, Mission: Impossible-Fallout, and Christopher Robin. Disney partnered with more than 100 licensing and promotional partners in a deal valued at an unprecedented $250 million. One of the partners was The Walt Disney Company, which distributed the film for advertising. Spots for the film appeared on Disney Channel, Disney XD, Freeform, ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and Disney XD en Espanol. A customized page was created on Fandango. Coinciding with the film's release, Disney also partnered with McDonald's to produce eight toys in their Happy Meals. A Canterlot High 2: Rainbow Rocks graphic novel and comic miniseries was published by Dark Horse Comics in 2018. The graphic novel, titled Canterlot High 2: Rainbow Rocks- Make Some Music, was written by Liz Marsham and illustrated by Nicoletta Baldari. A comic miniseries, titled Canterlot High 2: Rainbow Rocks: Dancing, Singing & Other Stories, was written by Christos Gage and Landry Walker, and illustrated by Gurihiru, J. Bone, Andrea Greppi and Roberta Zanotta. A Lego video game based on both films was announced on January 28, 2019, and was released on March 19, 2019, three days before the film's release, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. Home media The film was released on digital and Movies Anywhere on November 27, 2018, while the DVD, Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray was released later on December 18, 2018, by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. Special features include a new featurette, three sing-along songs, and audio commentary by Rich Moore. The Blu-ray features three new animated shorts: Guitar Centered, Hamstocalypse Now, ''and ''Pinkie on the One. There are also three store exclusives for the DVD only. The Target edition includes a bracelet, a $4 coupon for one CH toy, and the original Canterlot High ''DVD. The Walmart edition includes a music CD, a digital copy of the film, and the same $4 coupon. The Kmart edition includes a "backstage pass" and the coupon. Upon initial release, the DVD version of the film had an error in which chapters 5 and 6 play in reverse when the DVD is played from the main menu ‘Play’ listing. Alongside ''Canterlot High, this film was released in a box set on January 8, 2019. Reception Critical response On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 93% based on 100 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10. The website's critical consensus states, "Canterlot High 2 may not live up to its 2015 predecessor, but its heartfelt moments, colorful atmosphere, and iconic couple should nonetheless outweigh its flaws." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 79 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, down from the "A+" earned by the first film. Peter Debruge of Variety called the film "very cute", and also writing "If you loved the original film, your kids will appreciate to have more fun to Twilight's experience on their riveting, silly, and fascinating fantasy adventure." Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times praised the lightweight tone as a treat and a breath following the "dark and dramatic tones". He also praised the cast, especially Robbie and Saldana, as well as the visual effects and perfect usage of action sequences in the film. Box office Canterlot High 2: Rainbow Rocks earned $261,321,843 in North America, and $615,922,939 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $877,244,782. Its worldwide opening weekend totaled $126.9 million. On September 15, 2018, it surpassed Canterlot High's gross of $657,000,000, to become the highest-grossing film in the franchise. Worldwide, it is the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2018 (also, the third highest-grossing animated film of that year) and the highest-grossing film in the Canterlot High series. Overall, it is the twentieth-highest-grossing animated film of all time. In North America, the film earned $16.7 million on its opening day and $46.6 million on its opening weekend. The film closed from theaters on February 7, 2019 with $161 million. Accolades Sequel On February 26, 2019, Walt Disney Animation Studios announced that a fourth film, Canterlot High 3 will be released on February 1, 2022. It is currently unknown if Moore will have any sort of involvement in the film. It was also announced that The Dazzlings, who last appeared in Canterlot High 2: Rainbow Rocks ''will re-appear in the film. On February 27, 2019, it was announced that the film's Synopsis will be like this: "''Canterlot High 4: Escape From Military School will be focused on Twilight returning to Canterlot High for their Summer Blowout to spend time with her friends until she and Sunset Shimmer are both sent to Military School for unknown reasons by the Dazzlings as an act of revenge, and later of where Sour Sweet, Sugarcoat, Sunny Flare, Lemon Zest, Indigo Zap, Suri Polomare, And Upper Crust retired for being a Crystal Prep Student and planning to join the girls and Dash, Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Spike are on a adventure to rescue their friends while The come across Sunny Flare, Lemon Zest, Indigo Zap, Suri Polomare, Upper Crust, human Twilight, Aria, and Sonata? Unware to all Canterlot, a new threats emerges from Canterlot's past. Only Spike, Flash, and will stop the sinister plans for good!". It was also announced that Robert Downey Jr., the player of Tony Stark confirmed that Tony Stark will make a cameo appearance in the Party. Also, Scarlett Johannson, The actress of Black Widow confirmed that she will appear in the Military School as a supporting Character. This will also be the third WDAS film to feature Marvel characters, after Big Hero 6 ''and ''Ralph Breaks the Internet. Category:EvanRocks Wiki